O 280047Z FEB 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON IMMEDIATE 
SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5974

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000200 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNSC PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: UN PEACEKEEPING:  AMBASSADOR RICE ADDRESSES C-34 
 
REF: USUN 065 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UN Special Committee for 
Peacekeeping Operations (C-34) opened its annual 
session with a general debate on February 23-24. 
Ambassador Rice addressed the C-34 on February 24, 
delivering a message that the U.S. is ready to 
consider fresh peacekeeping approaches in cooperation 
with a broad spectrum of partners and that UN 
peacekeeping is a priority for the U.S.  Other 
delegations -- including Russia and China at the 
ambassadorial level -- spoke about peacekeeping 
reform, possible strengthening of the UN Police 
Division, and protection of civilians. UN U/SYGs LeRoy 
and Malcorra warned participants that the dramatic 
growth in the scale of UN peacekeeping operations in 
recent years risks overstretching the system.  The C- 
34 session is scheduled to continue through March 20. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The United Nations Special Committee on 
Peacekeeping Operations, also known as the C-34, 
reports to the UN General Assembly through the Special 
Political and Decolonization Committee (4th Committee) 
and meets annually for a month to negotiate a report 
on various peacekeeping principles and operational 
guidance for the UN.  In 2007 and 2008, the C-34 
failed to reach consensus during its normal session, 
and negotiations lingered for over two months on both 
occasions.  This year's C-34 session opened with a 
general debate on February 23-24 and will continue 
through March 20. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On February 23, UN Department of 
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Under Secretary General 
Alain Le Roy opened the general debate by describing 
UN peacekeeping as a victim of its own success in that 
a decade of unprecedented growth -- resulting in 
112,000 field personnel serving in 18 UNPKOs as well 
as peacebuilding and political missions -- has left 
the UN struggling with "sheer overstretch." He 
predicted that 2009 would be a critical year during 
which the UN must find adequate resources for 
increasingly complex, robust mandates in difficult and 
often hostile environments. Le Roy also noted that 
DPKO continues to rely on a small group of countries 
for the bulk of troop contributions.  Le Roy 
encouraged the UN and its member states to come up 
with practical ways to ensure ongoing missions were 
fully supported and to tackle capacity challenges that 
he feared could otherwise encumber or even derail 
future peacekeeping deployments. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following Le Roy, UN Department of Field 
Support (DFS) Under Secretary General Susanna Malcorra 
said that the "stress and stretch" faced by DPKO 
applied to DFS as well.  Malcorra said the biggest 
challenge facing DFS was in managing the immediate and 
huge operational demands placed on it, while also 
taking time to develop a longer term strategy to more 
systematically address those demands.  Malcorra 
promised to work with member states on a multi-pronged 
support strategy for the future. She also commented on 
the difficulties faced by specific peacekeeping 
operations, including in Darfur and Chad, where she 
said the supply chain was particularly difficult to 
manage. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a departure from past practice, Ambassador 
Rice delivered the U.S. intervention at the PermRep 
level, conveying a clear message that the U.S. is 
ready to engage with a broad spectrum of peacekeeping 
stakeholders.  She told participants specifically that 
the U.S. looks forward "to exploring, during this 
meeting and on a continuing basis, the development and 
expansion of partnerships across the board with 
supporters of peacekeeping to respond to critical and 
emerging needs." She said "we are ready to contemplate 
the launch of new reforms, wherever these hold the 
promise of bringing al key constituencies together to 
address the challenges that we collectively face." 
These challenges include, she said, improving the flow 
of relevant information for Security Council 
deliberations, addressing the gap between peacekeeping 
operations and processes and the needs of potential 
troop contributors, seeking cost effectiveness, 
providing adequate resources for the UN Secretariat, 
and ensuring that individual PKOs respect the 
societies into which they are deployed. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Russian PermRep Churkin called directly for 
peacekeeping reform, suggesting that peacekeeping 
could be most improved in the area of operations 
management.  He advocated improvement in the way the 
Security Council considers peacekeeping mandates and 
called for more active collaboration involving the 
Security Council with troop-contributing countries and 
the Secretariat.  Churkin reiterated the Russian 
Federation's frequent call for the revitalization of 
the Military Staff Committee and also called for the 
strengthening of the Office of Military Affairs and 
the UN Police Division. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Chinese Deputy PermRep Liu Zhenmin agreed 
that the Security Council was facing new challenges in 
crafting peacekeeping mandates, such as the protection 
of civilians, but insisted that any changes in 
peacekeeping practice or doctrine should be approved 
by the majority of UN member states.  Suggesting that 
the surge in UN peacekeeping has created a gap between 
the proposed mandates and available resources, Liu 
said the Security Council and the Secretariat should 
systematically assess all peacekeeping missions to 
ensure they are able to carry out their functions. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Representatives from regional groups also 
addressed the C-34.  Morocco (on behalf of the NAM) 
called for the committee's full involvement with DPKO 
and the Security Council while creating peacekeeping 
operations and called for all developed countries, 
especially the P-5, to share the burden of 
peacekeeping and commit their national troops to 
deployment under United Nations command and control. 
The Czech Republic (EU) and New Zealand (CANZ) both 
said the protection of civilians should be an integral 
part of peacekeeping operations and both supported 
enhancing the capacity of the UN Police Division. 
Mexico (Rio Group) called for greater coordination 
with the Peacebuilding Commission, especially as 
mission mandates were expanding into other areas such 
as the promotion of reconstruction and socio-economic 
development.  In total, 32 delegations took the floor 
during the C-34 general debate. 
 
¶9. (U) The conclusion of the general debate marks the 
end of the formal session and the beginning of 
discussions of the C-34 working group.  From February 
25-27, the Secretariat holds a series of presentations 
on peacekeeping issues:  DPKO/DFS restructuring, 
mission planning, UN policing, peacebuilding and early 
recovery, mission management, deployable rule of law 
capacity, technical monitoring, and the implementation 
of mandated tasks.  The C-34 will recess from March 2- 
6 for bilateral meetings and regional group 
consultations.  Negotiations of the C-34 report are 
scheduled for March 9-20, and if consensus is reached, 
it will be adopted on March 20. 
 
 
Rice